Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 June 1886 — Big Things. [ARTICLE]

Big Things.

The greatest wall in the world is the Chinese wall, built by the Emperor of the Tsin dynasty, about 220 B. C., Its a protection against the Tartars. It traverses the northern boundary of China, and is carried over the highest hills, through the deepest valleys, across rivers, and every other natural obstacle. Among the most remarkable natural echoes are that of tlie Eagle’s Nest, on the banks of Killarney, Ireland, which repeats a bugle call until it seems to bo sounded from a hundred instruments, and that of the banks of the Naha, between Bingen and Coblentz, which repeats a sound seventeen times. The most remarkable artificial echoknown is that of the castle of Simonetta, about two miles from Milan. It is occasioned by the existence of two parallel walls of considerable length. It repeats the report of a pistol sixty times. The most remarkable whirlpool is the maelstrom oft - the northwest coast of Norway, and southwest of Moskentesol, the most southerly of the Lofoden Isles It was once supposed to be unfathomable, but the depth has been shown not to exceed twenty fathoms. The greatest cataract in the world ia that of Niagara. The Horseshoe Fall, on the Canadian side, has a perpendicular descent of 158 feet. The height of the American Fall is IG7- feet. The Horseshoe Fall, which carries a larger volume of water than the American Fall, is about GOO yards wide, and extends from the Canadian shore to Goat Island. The biggest diamond in the world, if indeed it be a diamond, is the Braganza, which forms a part of the Portuguese crown jewels. It weighs 1,860 carats. However, not a little doubt exists of its being a diamond, as the Government has never allowed it ta be tested. It was found in Brazil in 1741.